Chosan helps Africa Celebrate U2

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | February 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Chosan seems to be everywhere a positive impact needs to be made. His latest effort involves working with Les Nubians, Angelique Kidjoe, Vieux Farka Toure, Vusi Mahlasela, Keziah Jones, Soweto Gospel Choir, and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars in a tribute to Bono and U2. The tribute pays homage to Bono and U2’s humanitarian relief efforts to alleviate suffering from disease and poverty in Africa. The great part about it is that the songs are all an African interpretation of U2’s songs. I love the idea of jamming to a traditional African sound with U2 lyrics, and their creative interpretation is phenomenal. » Read more…

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Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water is Life

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | February 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Tinariwen is composed of five men and one woman from Mali. Their latest album, Aman Iman, is an acoustic blend of contemporary music and Touareg style music sang in French and Tamashek. Tinariwen starred in a 52 minute documentary called Teshumara, or ‘the guitars of the revolution’, recently played in movie theaters in Europe. It tells the history of the Tuareg rebellion and the role played by Tinariwen in this struggle for freedom. Combined with Amassakoul, it’s been released as the CD/DVD combo The Soul Rebel Of African Desert. They have promoted their music through a flurry of concerts around the world, and have even been privileged to play with Carlos Santana, who is very impressed with their musical abilities. » Read more…

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Hil St. Soul - SOULidified

Written by Mwabi Kaira-Murdock | January 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Born in Lusaka, Zambia, Hilary Mwelwa relocated to London with her family at age five. As a child she adopted her father’s love of music, as their home was immersed with the sounds of traditional Zambian music along with such American R&B/soul icons as Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. This influence from such R&B greats is evident in Hilary’s powerful, soulful vocals. » Read more…

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Soul:ID - Sex, Love, & Philosophy

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | January 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment

This group with members from Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo met in Brussels where they formed the group, Soul ID. Their debut album’ , ‘Sex, Love, & Philosophy‘, highlights their collective musical talent. Dubbed ‘Afropean Soul’ by Zap Mama, their sound is very much like Loose Ends, and SOS Band. Tchai’s strong vocals are back by a talented Dad-D, V, and Urban Deep, and an array of beats and tempos that will get even the most jaded person up and dancing. Their talent has caught the attention of Wyclef Jean, Zap Mama, Craig David, and Youssou N’dour, among others and helped them gain a strong following » Read more…

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Simphiwe Dana - Zandisile

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | January 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Simphiwe Dana whose first name means ‘gift’ is truly a gift to those looking for real music. Her clear vocals and enormous stage presence has had audiences clamouring for more. She has toured with Angelique Kidjoe and is hailed by many as a young ‘Miriam Makeba’. Determined to keep her native language alive, she sings in Xhosa, lending an authentic touch of African style to her music. » Read more…

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MC Solaar - Chapitre 7

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | December 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Claude M’Barali a.k.a. MC Solaar was born in Senegal to Chadian parents who later relocated to France when he was 6 months old.  He adapted his name from his grafitti tags, ‘Soar’ and ‘Solaar’.    His rapping style, fused with a jazzy edge has always been popular with crowds around the world and brought him to the attention of Guru, who featured him on his (Guru’s) album, Jazzmatazz.  His latest offering, Chapitre 7 is a wonderful mix of styles and beats.  In his song, Paris-Samba, he explores the salsa rythms of latin dance and then takes you through a reggae beat in ‘Clic Clic’.   ‘Da Vinci Claude’  showcases his gift of rhythmic rap and a rock beat.  There are few who can match his gift for rhyming so effortlessly and making that sound like music in itself.  It is no wonder he has a large following.  ‘Sous les Palmiers’ is reminiscent of the rapping, good music feel of old that transports you to the days when people made music for the fun of it.  ‘Merci‘ harkens back to his jazzy hip-hop style with a soothing beat.  Overall this album is bound not to disappoint MC Solaar fans who are always waiting with bated breath for his next production.  The album was produced in New York City. » Read more…

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Lemar Obika - The Truth About Love

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | December 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Lemar Obika is a very talented young man with a fantastic vocal range.  He manages to sing and easily moves from one note to another.  He sings his heart out and you feel the heartstrings get that aching tug as his voice soars in The Truth About Love.  Tick Tock merges an old beat with his vocals and makes even the old heads want to dance.  Just Can’t Live Without Each Other’s Love talks about love in it’s true form, without the fear, just the reality of what one can live with and without.  In Can’t You See, Lemar teams up with Mica Paris and Styles P to produce something that sounds somewhat old school.  » Read more…

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Jaqee - Novelle D’Amour

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | December 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment

 Jaqee is a Ugandan musician based in Sweden who has won several awards and has a large following in Sweden. Her first album, Blaqalixious, was a collaboration between her and her childhood friend, Kiboy a.k.a. Wawesh.  The album had a heavy rotation on the airwaves, earned her a Grammy nomination, and  won her a Manifest award.  » Read more…

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Ahmed Soultan - Tolerance

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | December 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Ahmed Soultan is a Moroccan musician who sings in English, French, and Arabic. The influence of his home, Morocco, and the place he grew up in, France, seep throughout the his album, Tolerance. It merges these three languages and their associated cultures into a great mix of soulful music with a hint of African rhythm. » Read more…

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Sara Tavares - Balancê

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | November 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Balancê means something good in Lusophone Africa, and this album lives up to its name. Sara Tavares, born to Cape Verde parents in Portugal, has been making musical waves since she was 16 years old when she won two of Portugal’s most prestigious TV music contests. Her exposure to two cultures is reflected in the rhythms and the tone of her music. She tries to balance the different styles of Afro-Euro culture into something palatable, and does a great job. Planetra Sukri has a lilting latin feel to it while One Love is more African/Congolese in it’s rhythm. Balancê is a song about balancing yourself and its wonderful samba/salsa style that is surprisingly soothing. Overall the album manages to achieve its goal of being a balance of cultural styles. Songs are sung in English, Portuguese, and Criulo (a Cape Verdean dialect which mixes French and Portuguese and local languages). The album went Gold in Portugal, and she has been touring the world promoting it since its launch in 2006. Her appearance in the globalFest 2007 was met with great excitement and garnered many new fans for her. This talented songstress wrote and produced all the songs on the album.

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Krukid - Afr-I-Can

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | November 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Krukid, born Edwin Ruyonga, has come out with an album that is HOT!! His rapping style is great, and he manages to mix energetic beats into his poetic rapping flow, to keep you on your feet and ready to make a difference in the world. He won an award for best Hip Hop at the 1071 CU Local Music Awards which proved to be the impetus he needed to launch his career. Rawkus Records, famous for launching the careers of famous hip-hop artists like Sir Menelik, Company Flow, the High and Mighty, Mos Def and Talib Kweli (as a duo known as Black Star), Common, Pharaoh Monch, and Skillz, signed him on as one of their Rawkus 50. Rawkus is dedicated to promoting concious hip-hop and their artists have helped redirect the message of the industry.

The rap “Invisible“, a tribute to his Ugandan roots, highlights the plight of the child soldiers in Northern Uganda and Sudan. The words are deep and the passion unmistakeable. “KRU” talks about AIDS and the problems associated with it. “Calling” is more lyrical in its flow and lends itself more to a head-bobbing, hand-bouncing-in-the-air kind of reaction. The title song, “African” is very popular with the African hip-hop population and is quickly being adopted as the African anthem. You can here it here. The artists that he works with on the album include Somi, CashHill Affiliates, John Doe, Timmy Knoxx, Monty Shoe Walker, Falynx, Mulatto Bastard, Yes Yes, John Doe, Ryan Groff, and Kayla Brown, to name a few. » Read more…

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